Image by Randy Robertson

If you want to really get great work done, do less.

At first, that may sound counter-intuitive. But the more things you do, the fewer things you can do really well. The less time and energy you can pour into doing really amazing work.

Would you rather do a bunch of things pretty OK, or just a few things really, really well?

Read fewer blogs. Spend less time on Twitter or Facebook. Watch less TV. Cut out a few low-value activities all together.

Then take the time and energy you’ve saved and channel it into doing the stuff that’s left even better.

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One of the simplest ways to start doing amazing things is learning to say no.

As HR professionals, I think we’re taught to say yes to everything. And after a while, you find yourself doing a lot of administrative work and things designed to make managers’ lives easier.

That’s not the path to HR rockstardom.

Start saying no. Not to everything. Some stuff just needs to get done.

But say no to the things that add no value. Things that managers should be doing themselves, because that’s what being a manager is. Things that should be outsourced or delegated elsewhere.

Free yourself to do work that matters. Say no.

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Most corporate communication emails from HR start off with something along the lines of, “The ability to effectively leverage human capital is our greatest asset.”

Here’s the thing: If your company really believes that, and does “effectively leverage human capital” (buzzword bingo, anyone), you don’t need to say it. Your employees already know.

And if you don’t? Well, your employees know that, too. And saying it doesn’t make true.

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Planning is really important. I think a lot of blunders happen because people don’t always take the time the think through some of the obvious things-that-could-go-wrong scenarios.

But I also think that a lot of people have a tendency to over-think, over-analyze and over-plan. Sometimes, you need to learn to settle for good enough. Create a decent working model, put it out there, and make tweaks and improvements as you go along.

I wouldn’t want to buy an iPod that had a ton of errors and issues in it (though that doesn’t seem to stop Windows from putting out new versions of their software). But a new tool or resource like Twitter or Facebook or gMail? I’m more than happy to beta test that and help work the bugs out.

When you go to launch a new product or service – whether its a program for your employees, a blog for your customers, or a new product – figuring out when you need to plan for every possible situation, and when “good enough” actually is good enough, can help you actually do more stuff that matters.

Image by Emery Way

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The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris is a book about quitting your 9-to-5 to pursue the life you’ve always dreamed of. This isn’t about running your own business – it’s about owning a business that runs itself so you can stop living on a “deferred life plan” and start enjoying your golden years right now.

Is it unrealistic? In many regards, of course it is. But it’s not quite as far out as you might think. I recently read The 4-Hour Workweek and to my surprise, a book about quitting your job had a few things to teach people about talent management.

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Last week, I wrote about a car dealership that really gets HR. The dealership puts a tremendous focus on aligning their HR programs and practices with their service-oriented business strategy. I ended up buying my car from them, but over the last week or so, I also got to witness some of the unintended side-effects of their service-focused HR strategy.

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